Up until now, Saul has actually been something of a side project for the Brits Jack Stephenson-Oliver and Barney Whittaker. The former is, among other things, keyboardist with the fusion-affine Vels Trio, the latter is active on a solo basis under the name Footshooter. Yet their first joint EP under the name Saul from three years ago, »Murmurations«, already stood out as a fresh homage to the heroic days of the then somewhat publicity-shy genre of broken beats. The syncopations on »Mutualism« also provide slack swinging rhythms, but these are even looser. The proximity of the participants to jazz can be heard in their preference for broken beats and, incidentally, should effortlessly fit into the huge momentum accompanying everything currently happening in the jazz scene in London. The duo has enlisted singer Natty Wylah, rapper Lex Amor and Australian Allysha Joy from labelmates 30/70 as guests. With her vocal passages, you might just listen to it all like a very topical jazz-R&B hybrid, seasonally injecting a little bit of innocence back into the summer heat. Not that this is the main thrust of this music. But the fact that it can do you some good is not one of its most harmful effects. You can even call it jazz.
Mutualism
